“We offer global solutions for agriculture today and tomorrow”

The ASCENZA brand has just made its official presentation in Lisbon, a new branding but with a very recognized DNA: it takes over from Sapec Agro, and as such, its aspiration is to continue being leaders in the off patent active material segment, with innovative formulations in phytosanitary products, incorporating at the same time nutrition products and biostimulation.

To learn about this new stage in the company, our director Gissèle Falcón has moved to its offices in Valencia to interview Benjamín Santarrufina, Commercial and Marketing Director of ASCENZA. An affable and relaxed meeting, where they have deepened on the determining role of phytosanitaries in our agriculture, and on their contribution to the economic and environmental sustainability of this activity.

Today ASCENZA, formerly Sapec Agro, is the leader in the Iberian Peninsula in crop protection in the off patent agricultural solutions segment. What have been the keys that have led them to position themselves in this position?

The key is to offer the best solutions to the farmer under an unparalleled quality – price ratio. In the area of ​​off patent products, we are the first company that makes these active materials available to the producer, through different mixtures and applications, which provide new advantages for agriculture. For example, last year, we presented 14 new products for crops that we consider strategic and where the aim is to guarantee a catalog of solutions for today but also for the future. We must bear in mind that if we talk about active matters, we have a very strict European legislation, where every year principles are eliminated, hence the importance of maintaining not only certain subjects, but also presenting mixtures that really bring new advantages. But in addition, we have taken another step: now we aspire to offer global solutions to the farmer, where not only phytosanitary products are considered, but also nutritional products and biostimulants.

Where does the ASCENZA R & D & I lines point?

Our innovation and development lines are always focused on products that the farmer already knows and whose benefits he recognizes, that have lost the patent, and that ASCENZA filters to determine which are really essential. We present them with new mixtures that amplify their effectiveness, other formulations and forms of application, with the best value for money. We have an example with microcapsules: it is a new technology through which the active material is not released until the particle is dry, which provides greater security to the person who is applying the product.

We offer microcapsules, a new technology that provides greater security to the person who is applying the product

Combining quality, price and respect for the environment, seems to be a priority for ASCENZA …

Effectively. We offer solutions for today’s agriculture, but also for the future, and for that, respect for the environment is vital. As I mentioned before, we focus not only on phytosanitary products, but also on biostimulants and vegetable nutrition products, a global solution that guarantees productive, economically profitable, and environmentally sustainable operations, because we can not forget that the agricultural sector as a whole has the challenge of feeding quality and safe products to an increasingly large and long-lived population.

If we focus on your catalog, you have just presented Spyrit Plus WG for vineyard. What are the advantages for this crop?

It is a solution that combines three active substances: Dimethomorf, Folpet and Fosetil-Al. The first substance is a penetrating fungicide with preventive, curative and antisporulant activity against mildew; Folpet gives the compound a foliar protective action with preventive action with multisite action mode; and Fosetil-Al is a systemic fungicide with protective action. The combination of the three makes this solution a fungicide with triple action that also has a high resistance to washing. But in addition to this solution, also for the vineyard, this campaign will make available to farmers Spyrit 50 SC and Spyrit Hidro: both fungicides for the control of this fungus in the cultivation of table grapes and wine. This complete catalog shows the firm commitment of the company for the cultivation of the vine, because despite the current situation of reduction of active phytosanitary materials for this crop, ASCENZA is one of the few companies that offers farmers innovative solutions with their own formulations .

During the period 2018-2021 we will carry out an extensive renovation of our catalog, with new active materials, mixtures and formulated

What other novelties await us in this 2019?

Right now we are immersed in the process of brand transition, creating branding but above all by transferring to the farmer that we are a solid bet and with a wide distribution network throughout the Iberian Peninsula. In terms of news, during the 2018-2021 period, the company’s goal was to renew our commercial catalog by at least 50%, so that at the moment we are working on new active subjects that will gradually be phased out incorporating our portfolio by offering global solutions to our farmers.